妙法蓮華經文句 1.4

1.4

There was the Great Master of Tiantai, whose Dharma name was Zhiyi. In the past, he personally heard this scripture before the Tathāgata, dwelling in the rank of the five stages. His renown resonated across two dynasties without his frequenting lecture halls, and his understanding of the Buddha Vehicle was spontaneous. By the power of dhāraṇī his delight in speech was inexhaustible. He frequently lectured on the Benevolent King Prajñā Sūtra before the ruler of the Chen dynasty in the Taiji Hall; the sovereign of ten thousand chariots bowed his knees, and the hundred officials snapped their fingers [in praise]. Furthermore, regarding his explanations through contemplation of mind, they wonderfully transcend existence and nonexistence, taking the true nature as the model and relying on illumination to achieve complete penetration. In stating the title and explaining the central theme, he differed from past masters of virtue, and the five meanings penetrating the principle all support the sacred teachings. Throughout the more than thirty years in which the Master of Wisdom propagated the Dharma, there was only the Vimalakīrti Commentary composed by order of Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty. As for the profound text of this work, it was privately recorded by Dharma Master Guanding, amounting to twenty fascicles in all. 'Without wisdom it cannot be parsed'—these words are indeed true!